hey guys I have a jwt tt z that im thinking about bringing to the quarter. I have never ran a car sown the strip and I am just going to keep my 20" volks on with nitto 555s. I am also pushing about 430 hp and have a jwt clutch and flywheel and short shifter any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

sticky tire

 

Burn Rubber not your soul

 

Dont go into any walls....

 

Push the accelerator to the floor, and go like hell.

 

I would reaaalllly appreciate some serious advice I really dont want to wreck my car lol so if possible thanks

 

If you wreck a car on street tires @ the track your a fool-and Im sure you're not Best advice would be to come out of the hole relatively easy, try not to spin too much. How is your traction now? Shift at redline, and do your best. You can try taking extra weight out of the car-stereo, spare, tools, etc. Drag racing on 20's is silly though, your really doing it more for fun than to set any good times....

 

Advice is always the same for first-time racers: be safe and have fun. This is not the time to break any world speed records:

Watch several cars stage. When it is your turn, take your time, and follow the officials instructions. Do not be rushed. c. Be courteous. Allow the other car to pre-stage be before you stage.

Where is the run-off? Are cars exiting left or right? The run-off can be dangerous because you may have 2 cars going 100 MPH plus. The right-of-way in the run-off is simple: the car in the exit lane has the right-of-way.

Whether you have 200 or 500 horsepower, traction can be a problem. If the car points in the wrong direction, back-off the accelerator. You have nothing to prove with a cool looking recovery. You get no prize for stupid. Abort a run if you feel unsafe.

 

thanks guys. my traction is relatively good for the power i have. what should I launch at?? how much will my rims slow me down?

 

try launching at around 3k maybe 3500 if u know your tires will hold it and see what happens....as for your tires....all that extra rotating mass....u might bog the motor at the start because of this ...gl...

 

The first 60' are going to have the greatest impact on what your Elapsed Time (E.T.) will be. Drive *around* the water box and then back up into it. Do not back all the way into the pool of water, be ahead of it a few feet where the ground has a thin layer of water on it. The reason you drive around the water box and back in is so you dont drive your rear tires through the water tracks your front tires leave after the burn out, this would cool the rears back down. With street tires you do not need to do a big burn out, if they get too hot they will lose their grip. What you do want is to warm them up a bit. To do a quick burn out simply rev the motor up, dump the clutch, and then put your *left* foot on the brake while your right is giving it gas. Only do this for a few seconds (until you see a little bit of smoke, even though it would be more fun - dont do a big burn out on the street tires), let off the brake, keep your right foot on the gas, and you will roll forward out of the water. As you roll forward out of the water you should hear the tires starting to grip (the VHT & the Hot tires). You will know the sound to expect when you hear the cars in front of you do it.

The launch: Each car is different and you will have to play around with it a bit to find what works best. Here is what i do: Bring the RPMS do about 3500, SLIP the clutch (read "dont dump) until you feel the car start to move. Once the car starts to move let the clutch out at the same rate you push the gas all the way down. It takes a good match of slipping the clutch and giving the correct amount of gas to keep the car from Bogging or Spinning like hell. I hope you get to run on a day that its not too packed so you can get a number of passes in.

Shifting: Mis shifts seem to be common when people go to the track simply because of all the excitement and improper shifting techniques. Here is a cut and paste from a drag racing expert:

1st-to-2d Shift
Pull the shifter straight back; remember cupped fingers and no thumb.

2d-to-3d Shift
Push the shifter toward the radio; remember heel of the hand and no thumb. This will allow the shifter’s strong centering device to find the 3d-gear shift gate.

3d-to-4th Shift
Pull the shifter straight back; remember cupped fingers and no thumb, same as the 1st-to-2d.




**Keep in Mind** Your reaction time has NOTHING to do with your ET. In other words, your quarter mile time doesnt start when the light turns green, it starts when you leave the line. So, dont worry so much with the light (or your reaction time) just work on your launch. If you're worried about beating the car next to you to the end of the track leave on the last yellow.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

 

Avoid the water box

Street tires dont need a burnout

http://www.nhra.com/basics/basics.html

This will give you a good idea about drag racing

Youll most likely be on a sportsman tree with .500 of a second between 3 bulbs....when the third orang bulb lights up....launch it...your R/T will most likely show .000 to .100 if you do it well... .250 to .700 if you fall asleep

The old timers started with .500 but most tracks today use .000 as perfect

Depending on how much VHT they use youll need to get a good feel for the launch surface...your first 3 runs will be GIANT learning experiences so dont put too much pressure on yourself like others have said

Learn to stage properly, practice slipping the clutch properly and execute clean shifts...once you have that down the rest will come....powershifting, slicks, deep staging etc.....the basics are super important to master

Take lots of water, some chairs and pop tent if you can fit it lol....shade is valuable to remain cool

 

When I went to the track, my first run was alright, second one almost sent me into the wall as I tried to salvage my run after a horrible 60'. I picked up a **** load of loose pellets and debris off the pavement after my first pass and didn't realize it. I did a mini burnout for my 3rd run and it helped tons, got rid of the crap on my tires i guess.

In one of the previous posts someone said to launch at 3K, if I had a turboed car, I'd definately work my way up from like say....idle

I read you don't hit the waterbox at all if you're running on street tires, is this the case?

 

I just started drag racing recently and my '06 is stock except 19" volk gt-s on 255/285 bfg kdw's and titek air duct w/ k&n drop-in, with 3 trips to the track I have learned to launch at ~2500 rpm and a quick spin of the tires before staging does help to rid the tires of any debris my best pass is a 14.7 w/ a 2.21 60'. Like stated before avoid the water box at all costs on street tires and also try to avoid being behind some jacka** who enters it w/ non-slicks. I would recommend spending a couple hundred on a set of dr's (the best bang for buck mod on the strip) to get your 60' down. Most of all just remember to have fun and be careful.

 

As pointed out above, street tires do not need a warm-up burnout, however, a quick spin to clean the dirt off will help.

 

Do you drag race at Firebird? ....Miss that place! lol

 

yeah you from id? i recall AA telling me about someone w/ a z round here that moved to socal.

 

go easy on the launch to avoid wheel spin ............. at least thats what always worked for me and than just floor it all the way and if you have the heart to ruin, don't lift your foot off accelerator to shift and with your HP i can see 11 sec pass regardless of the wheels u are using..

 

+1^^^ its as easy at that...stay out of the water box.I believe most guys on street tires are around 28psi.

 

Firebird?
Ha. I'll be going there in the spring once it opens back up again.